All the biotics

How I am rebuilding my microbiome after a run-in with a chicken quesadilla in Zanzibar and why you might want to do so too.

I’ve just returned from Zanzibar with memories, photos, and a depleted microbiome…

So this is how I am rebuilding it, because your microbiome is more than just about digestion, it’s vital in the regulation of inflammation, mood, immunity and, crucially, during perimenopause, your hormones (1).

And I am using all the biotics; prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics. Here’s bit more info on what these are, how they help and how to incorporate them into your diet.

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Probiotics: the headliners

Probiotics are fermented foods that contain beneficial live microbial cultures.

Fermentation was a process originally devised to preserve food: bacteria or yeast is added to a food or drink in a controlled way, slightly altering it and making it last longer. Bacteria is added to milk to produce yoghurt and yeast added to sweetened tea gives you kombucha.

But two caveats:

1. Not all fermented products contain live bacteria - heat and processing often kill them (e.g. sourdough bread).

2. Not all live bacteria are beneficial - but some are. Lactobacillus, for example, helps maintain the integrity of the gut lining (2).

Even if they don’t colonise permanently, live microbes can still:

• Produce helpful metabolites

• Suppress harmful microbes

• Support your overall microbial balance

Good probiotic foods:

• Yoghurt - choose full-fat with live cultures

• Kefir - more tangy, with broader microbial diversity

• Kimchi - spicy, fermented Korean vegetables

• Kombucha - fizzy fermented tea made with yeast and bacteria

• Miso - fermented soybeans and rice

Zoe studied the effects of fermented foods by asking people to up their intake by 3 x day and found improvements in mood, energy, bloating and hunger (3).

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Prebiotics: the food for your good bacteria

Prebiotics are predominantly soluble fibres that your body doesn’t digest, but your good gut bugs do. They help beneficial microbes thrive and crowd out harmful ones.

To be classed as a prebiotic, a fibre must:

• Stimulate growth/activity of good bacteria

• Produce health-promoting metabolites like short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)(4).

Whether the benefits of prebiotics lie in the compounds themselves (fibre has its own benefits), the support of a diverse microbiome or from the production of these metabolic compounds, the use of prebiotics is associated with enhanced digestion and anti-inflammatory effects (5).

Prebiotics include:

• Inulin - found in bananas, onions, garlic, chicory root and Jerusalem artichoke

• Psyllium husk - this is what i use to top up my fibre intake to 35g/day

But… go slow when adding in these. Too much, too fast, and your gut will protest loudly!

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Postbiotics: the underrated finishers

Postbiotics are the umbrella term for what your good bacteria produce from fermentation of the prebiotics. These include:

• Short-chain fatty acids (like butyrate)

• Peptides

• Signalling molecules

It’s increasingly clear that many benefits we attribute to probiotics actually come from postbiotics (6).

Short chain fatty acids, including butyrate, reduce inflammation, maintain the integrity of the gut lining and provide antioxidant effects (7).

Some fermented products (like yoghurt) contain both probiotics and postbiotics.

But I’m trialling direct sodium butyrate supplementation, though you could also use magnesium butyrate. Jury’s still out. Fingers crossed.

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Why this matters in midlife

Perimenopause and menopause change your microbiome. Oestrogen helps maintain microbial diversity and gut lining function. Lower levels mean increased vulnerability to:

• Inflammation

• Dysbiosis

• Sluggish digestion

• Bloating

Add in antibiotics or infection, and your gut can feel totally off.

But you don’t need a trip to Zanzibar to benefit from some microbiome TLC.